//------------------------------// // A Chat Over Breakfast // Story: To Speak as Thou // by Wolfpony //------------------------------// To Speak As Thou A Chat Over Breakfast Despite being a powerful Alicorn princess, Celestia was far from perfect. Like any other pony she had made her fair share of mistakes. Given her age she may have made the most mistakes out of everypony, but she also knew how to deal with and forget them. But she still couldn’t forgive herself for the most recent one. How had she not realized sooner that the way Luna spoke was odd? Was it because it seemed normal to her? The reason did not matter now. What mattered was that Luna had been ridiculed and rejected by her subjects. Again. And while she thanked Twilight Sparkle for her aid on Nightmare Night, Celestia could not shake the thought that she herself had done nothing. So the Princess of the Sun decided she would do something. She was unable to save Luna after she became Nightmare Moon, nor was she able to aid in her release and transformation back into the Princess of the Night, nor was she able to help defeat Discord. Such things had been out of even her power. Teaching her dear sister how to speak in the modern age, however, was. That she was sure of. The only question was how. And when. And where. But mainly how. After giving it much though, Celestia decided she would be open with Luna and simply tell her she needed to learn how to speak like everypony else. In a normal voice, using personal pronouns. No more Royal Canterlot Voice or Royal "We". If she wanted to be loved by her subjects the first step was to be approachable. And if she wanted to be approachable she had to be able to talk to somepony in casual conversation. Her mind set, Celestia opened the Dining Room doors to have a little chat with Luna over breakfast. As she entered the Dinning Room, Celestia was happy to see that Luna was already at the table with a cup of coffee and a plate of waffles. She had been fascinated with countless things ever since she had returned, but the culinary advances of the past thousand years had left her stunned. Luna had tried every new food and drink she could get her hooves on, sometimes with humorous results. As Celestia took her normal seat at the table across from Luna one of the kitchen staff came to her side with a friendly smile. "What can I get you this morning, Princess?" "Just a cup of tea for now, with milk and sugar. Thank you." With a light bow, the pony started to make his way to the kitchen. "Servant!" The kitchen pony turned to face Luna. "Yes, your majesty?", he asked in a shaky voice. "We require another serving of coffee. Black," Luna ordered. Looks like she forgot what Twilight told her on Nightmare Night, thought Celestia. The pony bowed quickly before responding, "Of course, your majesty. Right away." As the pony returned to the kitchen Celestia turned to face her sister. "Good morning, Luna," she said with a smile. "Likewise, dear sister." "Anything interesting happen during the night?" "No." Obviously focused on her waffles, Luna hardly noticed when her coffee was refilled. She just took a sip and went back to her meal. Thanking the pony that brought her tea, Celestia took the mug in her magic and took a long sip. She needed to get her sister's attention. "Luna," she started, trying to be calm yet serious, "we need to talk." "Then speak, sister. Do not let our eating stop thy words." Well that didn't work. "Lu, I would like to teach you something." Luna paused before putting down a bit of waffle. With a slight tilt to her head she turned towards her older sister, "Whatever dost thou mean, Tia?" "I mean," Celestia paused to drink some tea, "That there is something that I wish for you to learn." "That much is obvious, Celestia," Luna said, returning to her breakfast, "But what would ye like to teach us?" "How to speak properly" "We believe we can speak just fine, sister." "Even after what happened on Nightmare Night?" Luna put her fork down again. "Ah. We--, I, see." "Yes. I know you are still adjusting to modern times, and I am sorry for not helping you as I should. So," she paused, both to drink some tea and for dramatic effect. "I would like to teach you how to communicate more easily with everypony." "When would you teach me?" "I was hoping we could start this afternoon, actually." Looking into her sister's purple eyes, the Princess of the Night smiled, "I would like that, Tia." "Good!" Celestia chirped with delight as the kitchen pony refilled her tea. "Thank you, could I also get a stack of pancakes, please?" "Of course, Princess. With extra butter and syrup like usual?" he asked. "Yes, please." Luna chuckled as the pony left for the kitchen. "Thou have always had quite an appetite, Tia," she said as she daintily bit a piece of waffle off of her fork. "So nice to hear you laugh, Lu," Celestia replied with a smirk, "From what I heard about Nightmare Night I thought you had forgotten what fun is." The dark Alicorn gave her sister an annoyed look before returning to her plate. "It had just, been a while. And I was not familiar with the games. That is all." "Riiiight. Do you still remember how to dance, or did you forget that too?" "Thou know we don't like to dance, Tia," Luna said, only a little annoyed. Starting to work on the tower of pancakes that had just been placed in front of her, Celestia shot her a look, "I," she corrected, "And that's not what I asked." Luna kept here gaze fixed on her waffle. "Yes. We remember how to dance." "I," Celestia corrected again.